One Week

  As I hugged my sweet cousins goodbye yesterday afternoon and pulled out of my grandmother's driveway, I realized that this is really happening. I'm really going five hours away to college. Over the past few weeks I've had several of these "reality" moments where I grasp the fact that I'm moving away. If you've seen me the past few weeks, I may have mentioned my "stages" to you. Last week, I was as excited as I could be, yet, this week has been hard. I could just write to you a post about how excited and how perfect everything is going. But it wouldn't be 100% true. Yes, I am excited (very much), but I've had more fears and sadness this week. I've cried, had doubts, and have been nervous this week.

  But while waving goodbye to my four cousins playing in my grandma's front yard I realized that I'm making a change in my life. It's so easy to remain in a comfortable position, and to never endure the

emotions and issues that comes with change. I've learned, however, that only when you are taken out of your comfort zone, God can work miracles and he can use you. Now, this doesn't mean you have to pack your bags and move to a mission field in the middle east. God doesn't call all of us to do something like that. However, God does call us to step out of our comfort zones. That might just be your neighbor, the person living on the other side of town, or someplace across the country.

  Change isn't easy. Some people may not like you because you've decided to change, you may have fears and doubts, or you may just feel like giving up all together. But change is essential to your growth as an individual, and more importantly as a Christian. As a Christian, change allows you to grow in your faith because you learn to depend on God, who is stable and unchanging. James wrote about God's unchangingness in his book (James 1:17) "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow"

  This coming week is going to be challenging. There will be tears and stress (lots of that). But we all know what makes diamonds, right? Pressure. There will be a lot of change going on in my life in the next week, but I'm so thankful that God is calling me to step out of my comfort zone and into his plan, ultimately allowing me to grow closer to him.

Adventure awaits,

Shelby